It appears Anaheim and the city-owned Honda Center have been left at the altar again, at least temporarily.

In a development first reported by the Register, The owners of the Sacramento Kings called officials from Anaheim Arena Management early Monday morning to inform them that the team was staying in Sacramento at least one more season, ending seven months of relocation negotiations with Anaheim.

Shortly thereafter, the Maloof family, which has owned a controlling interest in the Kings since 1999, called NBA commissioner David Stern to inform him of the decision, several hours before Monday’s relocation deadline.

“We’re going to stay in Sacramento,” Kings co-owner Joe Maloof told the Register. “We appreciate everything the Samuelis, Anaheim Arena Management and the City of Anaheim did for us, but we decided to give Sacramento one more opportunity.

“Kevin Johnson, the Sacramento mayor, has made a lot of promises and we’re going to hold him to his word to see if they can come up with a new arena plan that works for everybody – for the Kings, the city and the community …

“We did everything we could over the years to make it happen (and failed). Now it’s up to him. The league is giving Kevin Johnson one more year (to get it done). This decision (to return) is being made for the (Kings) fans. In our hearts, we want to give it one more shot.”

Does that mean the Maloofs reserve the right to file for relocation next year if those promises haven’t been delivered?

“Yes,” Maloof said.

In the team’s official news release, (insert link here), the Maloofs thanked the fans for their loyalty and the local business community for its support, but the ownership group also made it clear that the team is not committed to staying beyond next season.

The statement from Maloof Sports and Enterainment ended with this veiled warning: “We look forward to seeing Mayor Johnson bring his vision to reality. However, if an arena plan cannot be finalized in a timely fashion, the NBA’s relocation committee has assured (the owners) that it will support an application to move the franchise to another market starting in 2012-13.”

During an afternoon media conference call, Stern confirmed the agreement with the Maloofs, saying the NBA will support the Kings’ desire to move if a “viable arena plan” doesn’t materialize next year. He said no timetable has been set for when that plan has to be in place.

“We’ve decided together with the Maloofs to put all of our efforts into Sacramento, make it happen and make it a success,” Stern said. “But if it can’t, if this becomes yet the fifth or sixth or seventh (failed arena proposal), it’ll be the last effort as far as we’re concerned, with respect to an arena.

“On behalf of the (relocation) committee, I pledged its support for a move to another market (if the arena plan doesn’t come together).”

After the latest, NBA-backed arena initiative in Sacramento failed in September, the Maloofs began exploring their options and started negotiating with Anaheim Arena Management, the Henry Samueli-owned company that runs Honda Center for the City of Anaheim.

Negotiations eventually produced hundreds of pages of documents in a proposed agreement that was presented to NBA relocation committee during the Board of Governors meetings last month in New York. It was there the NBA extended the relocation deadline two more weeks so the committee could more thoroughly examine proposals from Sacramento and Anaheim.

During a fact-finding mission in Sacramento, the NBA relocation committee verified recent corporate pledges to help the Kings’ finances and listened to a progress report from a feasibility study on how to build and finance a new downtown arena.

When the committee reported its finding during a conference call with the Maloofs this past Wednesday, the Kings owners also learned the committee had serious questions about another franchise joining the market in Southern California in such close proximity to the Lakers and Clippers.

Until Friday, the Maloofs reportedly had been leaning toward filing to move even without the blessing of the relocation committee, but recent public comments from Stern fueled speculation that the league wanted the Kings to return to Sacramento for at least another year.

Stern said twice in the past week that “if the team comes back or stays in Sacramento another year,” the recent financial pledges would help the team’s bottom line and “also give us the time to deliver on a regional basis for a new arena.”

The Maloofs ultimately decided not to challenge the NBA at this time, apparently in exchange for the reassurance they would reserve the right to relocate in the future.

In the end, the Maloofs left a lucrative proposal from Anaheim on the negotiating table that included several financial guarantees from Samueli, according to an AAM spokesman: at least $70 million for improvements and upgrades at Honda Center; a six-year TV contract worth $24 million a year; and a $75 million personal loan from Samueli, who also was ready to purchase a minority interest in the Kings if they moved.

If this turns out to be a one-year delay, will Anaheim still be interested?

“We are disappointed in today’s’ developments but remain very optimistic about the long-term future of the NBA in Anaheim,” Michael Schulman, AAM chairman, said in a prepared statement. “We wish the Maloof family and City of Sacramento well and hope they are successful in their endeavors.…

“With the nation’s second most populous region, one which serves as home to nearly the same number of people as the entire state of Texas, we are continuing our pursuit of an NBA team for our venue.”

This is at least the fifth time Anaheim’s bid for an NBA franchise has fallen through.

The Clippers seriously considered moving to then-Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim at least three times in the 1990s, according to Honda Center officials, and as recently as 2004 had discussions with arena officials about playing at least 12 home games in Anaheim if free agent Kobe Bryant were to sign with the team.

In 2001, the Vancouver Grizzlies also had serious talks with Anaheim arena officials, local politicians and officials from Disney Co. – then owner of the Ducks – about relocating in Anaheim before owner Michael Heisley chose Memphis as the Grizzlies’ new home.

“There will be an NBA team in Anaheim someday,” Joe Maloof said Monday in his interview with the Register.

How soon, and whether that team still could be the Sacramento Kings, likely will be influenced by arena developments in Sacramento over the next few months.

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